How to Do a Push-Up | Video

Perfect Your Push-Up With These Tips!

Whether you've done hundreds of push-ups or are just getting started, it's easy to lose sight of your form when doing such a basic move. But poor form can equal some big mishaps: namely an ineffective workout and possible injury. Give yourself a refresher by learning the most common mistakes people make when doing their push-ups, and how you can perfect your own. Whether your push-ups are hitting the floor, or you need a little assistance in the form of a chair, Anna is going to take you through the process from start to finish!

Many people are performing the basic push-up incorrectly. This can limit your results and possibly lead to injury. So today I wanna show you how to perfect the basic push-up. When you're doing a push up, you're using your triceps, your shoulders, your back, and your chest, so when done correctly, you're getting an entire upper body workout.
You always wanna start your push-up from the ground. So we're gonna come on down to the chest and stomach, making sure that you're flat on the floor. You wanna bring your hands even with your chest, just below your shoulders. One common mistake is that people will bring their hands up too high above their shoulders, or too low, and that will compromise your form, so you want to keep those hands in perfect alignment right here next to the chest.
From here, we're gonna wanna push through the heels of the hand. Press up, bringing the torso, chest, and thighs off the ground as one unit. You're really keeping your abs tight here, squeezing those abdominals. Make sure not to lock your elbows. That can put unnecessary stress on the joints. From here, you wanna keep your abs tight so that you don't sag your hips.
So you want to keep those abdominals strong. Also avoid sticking the butt straight up in the air. You want to be nice and parallel to the ground. This is really key 'cause you're challenging your abdominals, your low back, and strengthening that entire torso. Coming back down, you wanna slowly come back down to the ground as one unit, bringing your chest, stomach, and thighs back down to the floor and then you've completed one rep. If that was too challenging for you and you feel like you need to modify it a little bit, pivot off of your knees.
So, pick your feet up off the ground, tighten up your belly, press through those hands up, almost fully extending, not to lock the elbows and then slowly lower back down. If you need a further modification for this push-up, you can also use a chair or a bench to push off from. Try to perform three sets of 10-15 reps, and you'll perfect your form in no time.
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